Bullied
by screvere.per.amore
Summary: Maybe, even though it was late and I didn't know how to change, and the people in Forks were considerably incapable of it...maybe even that couldn't have stopped my life from changing. A change for the better. I'm Bella Cullen and this is my story. AH
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer (in reference to entire story): All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended. **

Some things just never change.

_I still remember how it all started. _

By the time that you start high school, you don't usually remember much of your elementary school days. I always did though. I had too much to remember. Everyone knows that it's the things that really strike your nerves that you never forget. For me, those things are school days. The girls that I went to school with. I remember all of them – every remark made about my eyes, my hair, my clothes, my hobbies.

The first true instant was when I started fourth grade. I was nine years old and practically a baby. You know you're too young to be subjected to what I have been when you've yet to graduate into the 'Girl Scouts' and you're still a 'Brownie'. It was Brownies itself that started it all.

"Mommy, do I have to do Brownies?" I crinkled up my little nose as my mom walked me to our neighbors' house after school.

"You can quit later if you don't like it, honey. I just want you to try," she spoke softly, a smile on her face. "Don't worry about it – I know you'll love it. You'll make a lot of friends!"

Friends.

That was one of the many things that I wasn't good at when I was little. All the other kids thought I was weird. And whenever I ran into one of those innocent, not judgmental kids, they would not like me because they thought I was annoying. When you're little you're only allowed to have one best friend, and I couldn't even hold onto that. My mom had hoped that Brownies would be a tight group of accepting girls.

My mother was more wrong than I wanted her to be. Deep down I had hoped that she was right. That the girls would be diverse, and nice, and accept me for who I was. They did nothing even close. Instead, when I showed up, I went through what most people would call a shunning.

"Alright, girls, we have a new member here in our little group. I would like to introduce you all to Isabella Cullen." The group leader, I believed her name was Mrs. Stanley, brought me up front upon arrival.

"I like the name Bella." I whispered to her and she chuckled. Slowly, I turned to face the group of girls. Instead of them greeting me, or even smiling, they all gasped. Each one of them reacted in some way – and none of them looked happy with me.

"What's wrong with her _face_?" Mrs. Stanley had a daughter my age – Jessica. Jessica's golden eyes were wide with what looked like mock fear. At the time, all I saw was the fear in them. The instant separation between the girls and I.

"I have...hetero...hetero...chromiala," I told them and Mrs. Stanley chuckled.

"Heterochromia, honey."

"My eyes are different colors and I was born like this. I can't change it though." I scratched the back of my head as I tried to find the words. Nothing had clicked on the girls' faces. All of their perfect, stuck up, little faces. Not a single one of them had ever had a reason to feel left out. None of them had ever had a reason to understand how I felt then. How they were going to make me feel for the rest of my sad little life. "My name is Bella...and, um, I just moved here with my mommy and daddy."

"You still call her _mommy_?" At the time I didn't know her name, but later I discovered that her name was Lauren Mallory. She was the ring-leader of all of their games. With her pin-straight blonde hair and ice-blue eyes.

"That's her name." I responded, not knowing that I may as well have started a popularity contest then and there.

"Whatever." She shot a fake smile my way, and then went back to the coloring sheet she was working on. By that point, they all had become preoccupied with their sheets again. I bit my lip nervously, starting a life-long habit as I tried to decide who I wanted to sit by. Everyone seemed to close to Lauren and Jessica. I didn't want to sit with them because they were already mean to me.

"Well, have a seat," Mrs. Stanley said from behind me, because I still hadn't made up my mind.

I looked back at the girls. Jessica pointed at me again, and they all giggled. Every single one of them nodded their heads in laughter and then went back to what they were working on. Jessica and Lauren then went as far as to scoot their chairs over so that all of their backs were to me. They had put up the second real wall between us. They made me feel excluded through the smallest of tactics – things that nine-year-olds shouldn't understand.

I turned back to Mrs. Stanley, where she was smiling behind me. I began shaking my head at her and her brow furrowed.

"What's wrong, honey?"

"I don't wanna'...I wan't...can we call my mommy?"

"We haven't even started!" She exclaimed loudly, and all of the girls turned their heads and watched us.

"I wanna' go..." I hissed, not wanting the girls to hear _everything_ that we were saying. "Please?"

"Fine. Just...go use the phone over there." The woman practically pouted as she pointed to a desk in the corner of the room. I clumsily ran that way, wanting nothing more than to hear my mommy talking to me again.

I quickly picked the phone off of the receiver and began dialing my mom's number. She, thankfully, picked up on the very first ring. I let out a true sigh of relief because I knew that she had promised to take me home if I wanted to leave, earlier.

"Mommy?" I whispered and heard a sigh.

"What's wrong, baby?"

"I wanna' leave."

"I thought we were going to try..." her words were slow, as if I hadn't understood her the first time that day.

"They..." I glanced back over, and at the girls in the corner, where they were giggling away. I sighed, and spoke in a much lower tone. "Mommy, they don't like me."

"That can't be right." She chuckled and I felt my face grow warmer than it had in front of the girls. "Honey, are you really ready to go home? Are you sure that you can't try harder?"

"Mommy! Please!" I whispered, my voice cracking that time. I heard her sigh in complete caving.

"Okay...I'm on my way, honey. Hang tight."

My mom showed up a couple hours later. She came in and took her time apologizing to Mrs. Stanley though. I stood behind her legs, refusing to watch the crazy girls for even one more second. They sure didn't mind staring at me. When my mom finally finished her social call, she lifted me up and onto her hip, and then carried me out the door.

As we made our way out, I looked at Lauren. She stuck her tongue out at me and I pursed my lips in frustration. I had hoped that moving would help me gain more friends. It merely introduced me to an even crueler crowd.

"Bella, honey, want to talk?" Mom asked me as she started her car and I buckled myself into the back.

"They didn't like me."

"I heard that much, but...what made you think that?" She finally asked and I looked out the window.

"They were staring at me like...like I was weird. And then they laughed at me, and said that I had a wrong face." I explained to her, wishing for just one second that she'd understand. That she could spend just one day with two different colored eyes. Instead, she lived a life with her pretty blue eyes – something that I'd only inherited one of. I got my ugly brown eye from my dad.

It wouldn't have been so hideous if it weren't next to the blue one. I sighed and ended up letting out a shuddering breath. My mom looked at me suddenly, her eyes much softer as she watched me this time. I wasn't sure what she saw, but her eyes didn't show happiness.

"Mom..."

"Why don't we just go out and get some ice-cream, baby? We can talk there." She smiled suddenly, but it never reached her eyes.

"Kay, mom."

Things didn't end that day. School started and the girls didn't talk to me at recess, unless they were telling me something that they heard about me. That I was a freak, demonic, and crazy. And they kept going until middle school. Things went from bad to just awful in a matter of a few years. Only the minor name-calling transformed into full blown rumors. Things that thirteen-year-olds shouldn't even know how to say. They were said and I was the main target.

"God, Bella, what, did you eat an entire cake this morning?" Lauren sneered loudly as I walked past her through the lunch-line.

"Lauren...I..." I began to defend myself, but the words disappeared before I could even come up with them.

"Fat ass." Jessica hissed sharply and followed Lauren right out the door.

That was around the time that I began eating in the classroom that I had before lunch. I was tired of not only having to hear from the kids in class, but wasting my lunch with them? That was just masochistic. Instead, I camped out in whatever class I had that day and ate in there. I still did that, right on through high school.

I had no social life. I used to consider my parents my friends, but then they began working more hours as I got older. Then they had my sister, and became even more preoccupied. I never held it against them – they loved each other, their work, Bree, and me. They just hadn't learned how to fairly divide their time. Instead of holding it against them – I spent my time focused on my academics and things similar to that.

I knew that I was different. I was abnormal and a bit of a freak compared to everyone that I grew up with. Starting high school changed my life in many ways. For a while it was for the worse, but at one point...things began to change for what could have been the better.

I thought so, at least.

Maybe, even though I didn't know how to change, and the people in Forks were incapable of it...maybe even that couldn't have stopped my life from changing.

**A/N: Just a preface, a bit of an introduction to my first story! If you review, I'll mention you in my next chapter, in complete thanks for being so kind and for taking the time to share your opinion. I am seriously curious about where you want things to go from here.**

**- Ro**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone who helped encourage this chapter! That includes **_**fire enturnal**_**, **_**life death love**_**, **_**gaaragirl202, hughug, Harry SKYWALKER, **_**and**_** Charmed Vampire Girl. **_**Seriously, guys, you were fantastic! These reviews are what encourage me to post faster. THANK YOU ALL!**

Most of my peers enjoyed the beginning of the school year. That fresh feeling of a new wardrobe, schedule, friends and everything. They all posted their statuses about how they were thrilled to see all of their friends again. I never understood them. The sudden enthusiasm for something that they all hate on for the rest of the year. I didn't understand why they didn't just have their friends over during their summer breaks, like in the movies. Nothing that they ever did made sense to me.

That was why I had to delete my social media account. They all had one, and I wondered if maybe that was just something else that I was missing that made me stand out. I made an account, added my family, and soon enough I was getting requests from none other than Lauren, Jessica, and their little gang themselves. It was overwhelming at first, but then I found out what overwhelming really was. The way that they just shot nasty things at me. Writing on my wall, messaging me, and commenting on my few posts. I had no other choice than to delete my account all together.

I thought it was a bit peculiar, the way that they targeted me and me alone. But that didn't change the way that they acted. The last thing on any of their minds was what I thought, or how I felt.

I hated the beginning of a new school year. Being at home alone all summer was a lot more enjoyable than running while constantly looking over my shoulder at school. Anything was more fun than avoiding Lauren's comments and shoves. I hated the beginning of the school year because a new school year meant another year of listening to my peers and their opinions about a girl who they never bothered to get to know.

I got up that morning feeling grim. The rest of my morning was going to be long, and dreadful. I wasn't too excited for the days looming over me. I found myself dragging my body around the house to get ready for the long day ahead of me.

"Bella, are you excited for your Junior year?" My mom asked me as I walked into the kitchen. "You're starting it a year early! That's so exciting!"

I looked at her, dressed in pink scrubs. She was happy with her job as a pediatrician. Between that and parenting my little sister, Bree. Bree was seven and sitting at the table eating, babbling on and on about the start of second grade. My mom smiled at her, and nodded her head, but I could tell that she was trying to focus on how I felt. It was hardly working, as Bree chose then to speak louder.

"Esme Cullen! I was asking you a question!" Bree snapped playfully, her eyes mischievous. I couldn't help but smile a bit at the look on her face. She looked exactly like I did at her age, only somehow she made it pretty. The entire demonic eye thing went well with her facial features. My mom gasped at her, and laughed as she turned to look at her.

"Breanna Kate Cullen! Where do you get off talking to your mother like that!" My dad walked in from the staircase, a smile on his face as he kissed Bree on the forehead. "Apologize to Mommy."

"Sorry Mommy!" She sighed and shook her head. "I just needed to know my teacher's name."

"It's Mrs. Cope. Eat up," my mom spoke cheerfully again and patted her shoulder.

"Now, Bella." My dad smiled as he sat down at the table. "Are you excited to be a junior?"

"Sure." I murmured, not sure whether I should have told him the complete truth or not. _No, dad, I hate school. I hate it so much and I hate the people and I hate life and I hate it all._ He would have appreciated those words greatly. Instead I kept it at 'sure'.

"Are you walking to school today? Or have you gotten a ride?" My mom asked me and I felt my face grow warm at the thought.

I had never exactly told my mom that I didn't have friends. I felt like she'd look down on me, or just misunderstand everything. She did her best, but she had lived a perfect life. Everything about my mother was perfect and I didn't want to put a hole in her picture perfect life. So, I kept to myself when it came to the way that my peers treated me. I figured that one day I would graduate, and that it wouldn't matter. I wanted my mom to be happy with me above all, anyway.

So, she assumed that I had friends. I always wondered if she had any suspicions, or if she seriously believed that I didn't like inviting girls over or hanging out with people. I wasn't sure if someone could be that extensive of an introvert, but I didn't feel like giving her a reason to ask more questions of me.

"Um, it's nice. I'll walk." I nodded slowly, trying to convince myself that the rain wouldn't be that bad to walk through.

"Nonsense, Isabella. It's pouring out." My dad looked down from his newspaper, his brown eyes curious as he looked at me. "We'll drop you off on the way to your sister's school."

"Really, it's not necessary..."

"It is. You don't need to get sick this early on." My mom spoke, the doctor in her coming out. I sighed but nodded at her. Too bad they couldn't have just been concerned that I was lonely, or that I wasn't in my greatest state of mind.

I went back up to my room to wait until they were ready to leave. Things had grown too awkward downstairs while we were eating for me to hang around. I didn't want them to question me so extensively. It made me feel that much more inferior to the life that they wanted me to live. When they called me down to the car, I didn't say a word, and stuck the small, black ear buds of my iPod in my ears.

Music had always been comforting. I knew that it was a very cliché thing to rely on, but it was thorough and it worked. I loved being home alone and just belting out to some song that had been stuck in my head. Turning up my iPod all the way and blocking out the rest of the world when the world is being too loud. Music was always a great escape for me, and everyone else on the planet.

I listened to my mix of music during the short drive to school. I refused to take the headphones out as I got out of the car and made my way past the crowds of students. They got louder and I had to turn my music up as I passed some of them. They were all so thrilled to be back in school again – it never ceased to astound me, the things that got these kids rowdy.

I slipped my sunglasses on. I wasn't allowed to wear them during most of my classes, but they helped with the bright fluorescence in the hallway. One of the smaller fall-backs of my condition was the migraines that came with bright lighting. One of the very few positives of living under a constant thick downcast.

My lungs let out a large gush of air when I approached my locker. I was a bit happier that I wasn't in the same hallway as my classmates. I was up in the juniors' hall, because I was starting the year as a junior. I would have been lying if I said that it was only the kids in my class that picked on me, but nobody was like Lauren Mallory. The hallways were her favorite place to target me anyway. It was truly a relief to be separated from a girl like her.

I grabbed everything that I needed for my classes leading up to lunch, and attempted to steady them on my arm. I knew that I wouldn't be able to do it before I did it, but I attempted to just toss my bag full of supplies into the locker with my other arm. The bag made it but everything that had been in my other arm ended up spread out all over the tile floor. The morning crowd had long since begun and my things were getting kicked and scattered everywhere.

"Dammit!" I hissed as I got onto my knees to pick up the mess.

"Ha! What a loser!" Someone passing by shouted loudly, their voice berating my ears as a Nike sneaker reached out and kicked my binder even farther from me. I cursed again, choosing to ignore anyone's comments as I sped up the cleanup process.

Once everything that I could get a hold of was back in my arms, I stood to get to my first class. I had Trigonometry and I was far from looking forward to it. I knew that class was better than passing period, but that didn't stop me from missing the peace of my own home. With that thought on my mind, and that thought only, I began the race to Mr. Coffee's classroom.

When I finally found the room, I rushed in and snagged a seat in the back. I loved being there because it prevented anyone else in the room from contacting me. They couldn't see me, but I could see each and every one of them. I didn't have to do the constant routine of watching my back. I didn't have to worry about them looking at my eyes and making fun of me. It was a bit of a relief for a girl like me.

The teacher was already in the room, but she'd yet to acknowledge me. I didn't take it personally – nobody really paid any attention to me at school. I preferred the lack of attention to the negative attention on any day. Any other kid in America would have understood that feeling. Because it was something that went back and forth constantly.

Kids began filing in after a few minutes, and none of them even looked my way. That was one of the positives about starting the school year with a new class. Nobody knew me, and nobody had a real reason to judge me. Especially since they weren't as ignorant as the little brats that I had met so many years before.

After the bell rang, everyone was seated wherever they wanted to be. I didn't waste my time getting to know the faces of the classroom, but rather opened my text book and began reading some of the first chapter to myself. Unfortunately, the teacher called the class to order and specifically told me to put my textbook away. She made a joke about how that wasn't something that you hear too often before going ahead and ruining everyone's day.

"I have a seating chart made for you guys, so that I can have an easier time calling roll," she spoke, walked over to her desk, and pulled her clipboard up, and began pointing out seats.

I had nothing against teachers and their little plans. The way that they actually stick us in this order to prevent cliques. They say that they'll end the arrangement after they learn our names, but the only changes in the arrangement that are made are made when there's a significant problem. I didn't hold that against them – it was my life with the last name Cullen. It automatically put me in the front of the room. Smack in the center. I wanted nothing more than to stay in the back and keep to myself.

"Isabella Cullen," she spoke and I stood slowly, making my way to the first desk in the front of the room. A few people snickered, but their noises went ignored. She spoke again, "if you have a nickname, or something, then just tell me."

"Bella." I whispered, only so loudly that she could hear me. She nodded once and I sat down.

I listened as she called out names, but I didn't recognize any of them. I pulled my text book back out for the time being. When she finished, I was again forced to put the book away and pay attention to her and what she had to say. That wasn't easy to do between my constant worries about what everyone thought of me and the paper balls and erasers being chucked at me. It was beyond aggravating me.

By the end of class, I was ready to go. The bell rang and I was out the door faster than I had been in a while. I was so infuriated by my start of the day. I shouldn't have been surprised that the rest of my day went about as similar to that as it could have. Things were slow and tedious right up until lunch time. It wasn't as if I had expected a change. I had just hoped that the kids wouldn't act quite the same. I should have known better. It was so bad that I knew I would have to stay in class through lunch.

When I walked into biology, I sat down in the back even though I was prepared to get placed up in the front. I took my time getting up and onto the stool, because I didn't feel like face-planting in front of everyone in the room. I quickly got my spiral out, ready to write down the needed supplies and fees for the class. I watched as the teacher, Mr. Monroe, walked in and sat down at his desk. There was a smaller desk next to his, and I was instantly curious about who would occupy a seat like it. My thoughts were brought to a halt when two girls sat down beside me. I didn't dare look at them, but I opened my ears in order to eavesdrop on them.

"I hear he's...you know, smokin' hot," one murmured, and the other giggled back in response.

"I love student teachers. They're so close to our age, and yet, so far. It makes it that much hotter, you know?" The strawberry blonde chomped on her gum as she responded to her little friend. I had to hold the urge to roll my eyes at their pathetic conversation, even if it answered one of my smaller questions.

I felt curious about this student teacher. Not so curious that I wanted to meet him, or anything silly like that. I was just curious about his job. I'd never had a student teacher in one of my classes before and I knew that the idea was based off of trial and error for their teaching methods.

I averted my attention back to the paper in front of me. The bell rang while I was doodling in the margins and the teacher promised that we could keep our seats where they were. I was relieved, because the only class that I had after biology was P.E. This meant that I only had two classes that I had an assigned seat in.

Class went fairly, and thankfully, quick that hour. We had half of the class, and then lunch, and then we finished class. When lunch rolled around, I had my packed lunch with me, so I didn't even have to leave the classroom with the crowd.

I pulled out my lunch and began eating it while I read my eBook. The book was good, and it was called Wuthering Heights, a favorite of mine. I had read it a lot growing up. The characters simply turning into my best childhood friends. It was dopey and something that most kids would frown upon, but it was my thing. I could have read the book four-hundred times a day.

The sound of a door closing made me nearly fly out of my chair and onto the floor. I looked up, flustered, to see an unfamiliar man walking in. Mr. Monroe had already left, and I felt curious about whether this was his student teacher. The man glanced at me as he began removing things from his backpack. I was already looking back at my book again, fearing the look on his face when he would see my eyes. I grabbed onto my composure as quickly as possible before getting back into my book.

"Isn't it lunch time?" A velvet voice asked and I pretended not to hear him. "Uh, hello?"

"Yes. That's why I have a sandwich." I didn't speak any louder than I had to as I glanced at my uneaten Peanut Butter and Jelly.

"Oh?" He sounded less amused than he did suddenly frustrated. "I see."

I didn't look at him again as I read. I didn't really read either. My mind was all over him. I thought about the bit of his hair that I'd seen when he walked in. I had never seen anything like it. The mix of brown and red, almost resulting in darker copper. It contrasted beautifully with his fair skin. I even had the time to notice his emerald green eyes. I had never paid much attention to people's eyes – because I hated it when they paid attention to mine. I switched my thoughts to something as insignificant as his height and his slender build. When I realized how superficial my thoughts were, I attempted to focus on my book.

We said all of nothing to each other as lunch went on. It ended and everyone filled back in. Mr. Monroe introduced Mr. Masen before continuing with his introduction to the class. I pretended to pay attention, but instead my curious eyes were on Mr. Masen. I had never felt so drawn to someone as I was to this man. It scared the crap out of me and I found myself panicking at the thought of him.

When the shrill bell echoed in the classroom, I already had my things gathered and was ready to run out the door. It was a bit more of a stumble than it was a run, but I got out the door quickly. The rest of the day seemed to rush by, as my mind was constantly occupied with the thought of the student teacher in biology. Even in PE, and at my locker, walking through the horrid hallways, and starting my walk to my house.

Thankfully, I thought, it had stopped raining. I found an opening and began walking across the parking lot and towards the sidewalk. On my way there, I was scared out of my skin by the sound of a car's horn. I turned to see a silver Volvo, and behind the dash was none other than the man who had taken over my brain all day. His eyes weren't on me, but I knew in my gut that he was honking on me. He didn't have to say things any clearer than he was. And so, I ran right through the puddle I was trying to avoid and found my way to the sidewalk.

After he sped off, I felt my eyes begin to blur with tears. It was the last thing I had expected, since I had gotten over crying in public long ago. Crying was something that made a person weak. It made them look weak and it made them a target. Why would I subject myself to just that much more humility? I swiped at my eyes with the thought and began to walk faster.

My mind reeled, trying to figure out where the tears were from. How could him just honking at me hurt my feelings so rapidly? I hadn't spoken more than five words to the guy, and the same went the other way around. How could someone, someone grown up and mature, immediately judge someone who they're supposed to teach? These questions pestered my thoughts as I made my way back home. I didn't understand how even strangers immediately saw the weirdo in me. Nobody could see me as a girl, with a condition, who couldn't change anything about herself.

Even when that was all she wanted in the world.

When I walked into my house, my mom was already off and braiding my sister's hair in the kitchen. Breanna didn't start full-days of school for another week. I didn't stop to greet them as I ran to to the stairs, and straight to my room.

My family was far from average. We didn't have money problems thanks to my parents' strong careers and my lack of shopping addiction – like other teen girls. We lived in a huge house, it was three stories and very modern. The outside had a lot of wood, metal, and glass accenting the dark coloring of the trees and grass surrounding it. The inside was white, everywhere. My mother adored the light colors, loving the welcoming feeling that it and the west glass wall brought us. None of it mattered to me. It never had and I never counted on it to.

Money wasn't important to me. There weren't very many things that were.

When I finally made it to the third floor, I went to my room and locked the door. Seating myself on the bed, I let the dam loose. My tears were flowing down my cheeks non-stop. I couldn't control the cries as they grew and formed into sobs. The overwhelming feeling that hit me like a mountain at the beginning of every school year hadn't missed me this year. Only usually, it waited until I was ready to go to bed and the rest of the house was asleep. For the first time, I found myself muffling my sobs with a pillow, fearing that my mother would hear them.

My nose pressed into the pillow, and it only muffled the shuddering sobs to an extent. I just wanted things to be peaceful. I wanted to be alone and not have to watch the look on people's faces when I tried to talk to them. When I tried to be in the same room as them. It was a feeling that you got used to, but didn't go completely numb to. I still felt every bit of the pain that I had felt that first night after Brownies, back when I was nine.

Slowly, my cries began to die down as I became more and more out of breath. Things grew fuzzy with my exhaustion and I didn't even notice as sleep took over. As I succumbed to my nightmares, I could only hope for a better following day than the one that I'd just experienced.

I opened my eyes to daylight, and knew that I needed to get my shit together. I couldn't just go home and cry myself to sleep. The school year hadn't started in its truest form yet and when it did, I was going to have things to do after school. Things like homework, projects, and babysitting my sister while my parents got back to working full-time.

After walking downstairs I was a bit surprised to find that my parents and Bree had already left for the day. I didn't have time to make myself cereal as I grabbed my bag and walked out the door. I was a bit upset that they didn't bother getting me up. Later in the year I wouldn't have minded, but I didn't feel ready to get tardies then. Punctuality was one of the very few good things about me. I didn't need that small piece of myself taken away from me.

The morning went as routine, and I was far from surprised. Everyday was a routine for me. A routine that I could only ever want to break.

I found myself on my way to biology when Lauren had somehow gotten in my path. I attempted to make a beeline around her, but she stuck her heel-clad foot out and brought me to the ground with a loud thud. I felt something in my elbow crack and a sharp pain shoot right to my shoulder blades. The shrill laughter behind me only made me that much more uncomfortable. I was practically in the fetal position when she dragged me back up to my feet.

I avoided her eyes, not wanting to see the hate behind them. She sneered and laughed before having Jessica shove me to the left. When I tried to cry out, they shoved me again and right into the storage closet for the science hall. I went to protest, but the door was slammed on my face. As if things couldn't have gotten any worse, the door handle jiggled, and the lock turned in the opposite direction. I felt my jaw drop as my mind began to process everything that had just happened to me.

"Hello?" I called out, into the dark room. "Anyone here?"

I felt stupid, knowing that nobody would be hanging out in a dark room full of lab supplies. I knew that we weren't doing any labs in my biology class and began praying that someone would have to come through and help me. The pain in my elbow was becoming unbareable and I had to roll my sleeve up because of the swelling. I called out again, my voice hoarse with fresh tears.

"Hello? Can somebody help me?" I cried, pounding my good arm on the door. "Somebody help me!"

That was when the light on the other side of the door flickered and then disappeared completely. It was pitch black before my mind finally came to terms with what was happening.

"Help!" My voice was nothing over the screams and shouts on the other side of the door.

**A/N: What happened? You should review to find out! After all, if you review, I'll mention your lovely UN in my next chapter! I take everyone's thoughts into consideration and I'm curious to see what you think of where things are going so far.**

**- Ro**


	3. Chapter 3

I walked into class while the students were at lunch and I was surprised to find that the girl from the day before wasn't anywhere to be seen. I had almost hoped that she would be eating in there again. I was curious about what she was like, because she chose not to participate in any of the welcoming games that we played after lunch. She was different than the other students and it left me with this feeling of frustration just thinking about her.

I ate my lunch in complete silence and thought about her. She wasn't only different than them intellectually, but rather she looked different too. It wasn't in a bad way – I thought she looked...for the lack of a less creepy word..._beautiful_. She was one of the shorter of her peers, but her body was still thin but curvy in all the right places. I immediately felt like a pervert just looking at her, but I was always reminding myself that it was only her and that I wasn't more than three or four years older than her.

It wasn't her body that I was drawn to though. It wasn't her pale, smooth complexion. It wasn't her long, curly brown hair that feel nearly all the way down her back. Those were all mere positives compared to her eyes. They were deep and soulful. I could see certain amounts of pain in them, and though they didn't glow with happiness, I knew that she just needed someone to make them do that. One of the best parts though was the strangest part. They were two different colors. One was cool blue, like the ocean, and the other was a warm, chocolate brown. They had me sucked in from that very short second that they peered my way.

Thanks to my minoring degree in biology, I knew a lot about genetics. I knew that it must have been running in one of her parent's genes and that it wasn't something she could change. I was a bit happy that it was permanent though, because it was absolutely extraordinary. I had students do projects on it before and I learned that she was probably sensitive to the high lighting. Without truly thinking about it, I stood and turned down the lights in the back. Just to make things a bit more comfortable, in case she showed up.

I felt disappointment as more and more students filed in without her. The bell rang and I called class to order, ready to start the day. I decided to take my time getting started, just in case she turned up last minute. I couldn't hold it against her. It had to be hard being only sixteen and trying to get through the junior hallways. I knew it was stressful, so I decided to secretly give her a bit of an easier time.

I began passing out worksheets when the firealarm began ringing. The shrill sound made me cringe as I had the kids get into a line at the door. They barely did that, forming a bit more of a three-filed line. I had them out and into the the rest of the packed hallways in seconds. The noise out in the hallways was louder than the alarms. Not totally shocking due to the amount of high schoolers crammed into one place.

We got out the doors and I began wondering where Mr. Monroe was. He said that they plan all of the drills and that we would know ahead of time. I wondered if he just didn't tell me because he forgot, or didn't have time. Though, when the lights flickered and the air got thicker when we arrived on the first floor, I understood completely.

It was definitely not a drill.

The noise grew louder, only now the voices were all full of panic. I could see students pulling their phones out left and right, trying to get a hold of people. I knew that there was no use scolding them, as all I wanted to do was call my mom and tell her that I was going to be okay.

When my class finally arrived outside of the building, I had them line up and I took roll again. Bella was still missing, but at that point I just assumed that she had gone home. I stood at the front of the line and collected my radio when the VP went around handing them out. I looked around, hoping to spot Bella just in case she was with another teacher, but I didn't see anyone at all.

That was when some girl, with brown hair and ruddy golden eyes came running to me. I raised my eyebrows at her, trying to understand her panicked state. She was in tears and was hiccuping because of how hard her cries were. She was blubbering incoherently, obviously trying to say something to me, when the vice principal walked over and tried to console her with me.

"Please! Please! You have to help her! I...it was Lauren's idea...I just...oh, God!" She was growing in volume as she pointed at the school.

"Help who? Help who?" I repeated. The VP placed his hands on her shoulders and told her that if she wanted us to help anyone, that she had to calm down and tell us what was going on.

"Bella!" She shot back.

"Bella? Where is she? So help me..._where is she_?"

"I...we...locked...we locked her in a closet up in the science hallway! I didn't think anything would happen! Oh, my God!" She began crying harder and I found myself running back towards the building. Help hadn't arrived yet and there was no way that I was going to leave Isabella up there during a fire, when the source of the fire was up on that floor.

When I got up there I began shouting her name. It grew harder was I got closer, no thanks to the smoke plugging up the air. All I could think about was how scared she probably was. About how the air was probably already thin in that room and about how horrific it probably was on her side of the story. The thoughts made my feet move faster. When I got to the first closet, I ripped it open in a panic and found nothing. That was when anger flushed through my veins.

What kind of a girl would lock another girl in a closet at school? What kind of a person would put someone into so much jeopardy? I began to understand the look on Bella's face when I spoke to her the day before. It all clicked in my head. The horrified look in her eyes that said nothing but low self-esteem. She was being outright bullied by her peers and she didn't have anyone to speak up for her. I found myself in front of another closet, and shoving the door open twice as fast.

I felt bad for it, because when I did, I knocked something heavy right to the floor. Looking in, I recognized the silhouette of a small body. I knew by the feeling I got as I hoisted her limp body up and over my shoulder that she was Bella. She didn't even cough as I began running back the opposite way, attempting to get her some fresh air before we both passed out.

When I got to where I had came in, I was stunned by the site of a spreading fire. I shook my head in confusion as the the smoke began clouding my way. My heart was thudding quickly between the close contact with Bella and the fear. With no other choice, I ran back the other way and to the extra stairs. I had no clue where they led to, but I knew that they had to have been better than running through a fire itself.

I ran from the smoke and down the stairs. When we got to the bottom, it was pitch black. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, let alone an exit. Without putting Bella down, for fear of losing her, I began feeling my way around the wall until I found what felt like a door. It was locked, but the next handle over moved without more than a quickly jiggle. I sighed with relief, plowing my way through, careful of Bella's dangling head.

"Edward Masen! I swear to God!" A voice yelled over my radio, and I immediately recognized my mother. She was a police officer and I knew that she didn't appreciate me playing the hero card. I never had a choice, because help was nowhere to be seen at the point of realization.

"I'm fine," I coughed, using my freehand to find the button on the radio. "I found Bella but I have no idea where we are. It's dark. We went down some back stair case. She's unconscious and I haven't had the chance to check for a response." I called, praying that they had heard me. "Just...wait."

That was when I found a door, and there was a light under it. I ripped it open, my eyes aching at the sudden amount of light flooding in. I recognized the locker room with relief. I took a second to catch my breath and even Bella's body back out before running again. There was a door that read exit and I knew that it would take us back outside.

I pushed it open and was surprised to find my mother, two people in scrubs, paramedics, the VP, and some student crowded around at a safe distance. They rushed too me as I got far enough to lay her out and on the blanket that they had out.

"Oh, my baby!" The woman with the blue eyes cried, dropping down to her knees to check Bella's pulse. The blond man was already checking her vitals and calling out to her.

"Edward Masen!" My mother's sharp voice drew me to turn around.

"Yes?"

"What's wrong with you?" She cried, walking over to pull me into a hug. "You scared the living hell out of me!"

"I couldn't..." I was still breathing too heavily to form a sentence. "I...wasn't...I couldn't leave her."

"And I couldn't thank you more," the woman that was crying over Bella spoke, shaking her head in pure fear. "You probably saved her life!"

"Is she alright doctor?" I asked the blond man and he nodded.

"She's just fainted," he sighed with relief as he talked. "Could you all get these two come oxygen? I don't like the way that he's breathing either."

"Yes doctor," the paramedic spoke curtly before running off to the ambulance.

I looked down at Bella, where she was sprawled out on the ground. The doctors were laying her out a little better and checking her airways. I shook my head as my eyes scanned over the light, black dusting over her body. The smoke had definitely taken its toll on her. That was when I noticed her sleeve that had been rolled up. Her arm was black, but even that couldn't hide the intense swelling starting at her elbow. I frowned, kneeling down to point it out.

"Look," I whispered and the female doctor gasped, picking up Bella's arm and asking what happened. I shook my head, not knowing what had happened.

"Who did this?" The blond doctor looked absolutely outraged as he began wiping down her arm. I remembered the girl who came to me, in tears, claiming to have thrown Bella in the closet. I was suddenly curious about what all had happened before. What could they have done to Bella?

"That girl...the one with the brown hair...she said that they were the ones who locked Bella up. Could they have done this?"

"Why would someone do that to Bella? She's never had any problems with the kids before! Who was it?" The woman asked, bawling as she looked up at the Vice Principal.

"Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory." He coughed nervously, and then glanced towards where Jessica was crying her eyes out and Lauren was pouting. I felt my jaw drop at the coldness in Lauren's eyes. And the fact that Jessica was still willing to follow the girl around. They had both screwed up big time, almost killing a girl in the process.

"Jessica? But she's always been one of Bella's friends!"

"I've never seen them talk." I told her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Bella eats lunch in the classroom. She has nothing to do with those girls." I explained a bit further, knowing that I should have just shut my mouth. IT was none of my business, and I had no right to interfere. And yet I still had an unattainably strong urge to take Bella's side and stand up for her. Nobody deserved the treatment that Bella was getting. I of all people understood that.

"Edward, that sounds an awful lot like..." my mom began but I shot her a look, begging her not to finish her sentence.

"So what? You think that they're bullying Bella?" The woman asked and I shrugged.

"I mean, all the signs are there..."

"Edward, maybe you should stay out of this." My mom cut in and I sighed, nodding in a bit of agreement.

I patted Bella's hair awkwardly before standing beside my mom she told me that she could take me home and I thanked her, following her back to the cruiser that she'd parked on the side of the road. I opened the driver's door for her before slowly going around and getting in on my own side. As I buckled my seat belt, I mentally prepared for my mother's wrath. She was clearly fuming, her small self behind the wheel. I closed my eyes and leaned back, ready to begin.

"Edward Anthony Masen..." She sighed and backed out of her parking spot. "I cannot believe you went back in there for a girl like that. Someone who you don't even know. Putting your life in so much danger with everything that you have going on at home."

"Mom...I'm sorry." I looked over at her, taking in her frustrated face. Her green eyes, ones that I had gotten from her. They contrasted greatly with her curly, red-brown hair. I looked a lot like my mother. I looked nearly nothing like my father. I didn't mind though, because my mother was one of the two most beautiful women in my life. I had always looked up to her. If things hadn't became such a train-wreck, I probably would have followed in her footsteps.

"I can't be mad at you!" She finally huffed and I raised my eyebrows.

"Why?"

"Because you saved a girl today! And I understand every reason why you did it." She sounded even more defeated as she looked out the window. I pursed my lips, nodding. She didn't understand every reason, but if she did, she would probably have arrested me. "I had thought you'd found a nice, safe job that I wouldn't have to worry about."

"It's high school. You and I of all people know that high school sucks." I laughed lightly.

"Can't say no to that," she spoke softly, her eyes glancing towards me.

We drove home and I went to change my clothes. What I was wearing before was thoroughly coated in ash during the fire escapade. I knew that they would never smell the same again, but it was worth it. Bella was such a good kid, even over the span of one day, and I knew that every moment that I was risking my life was just another chance for hers, and it was worth it.

I shook the thought, knowing that my thoughts were trailing towards a darker line.

As I walked out of my house, I noted that my mother had already returned to work. I climbed back into my car and pulled out, going to the hospital. I knew better than to get even more involved, but the girl already had sucked me in. I was infatuated with her. I had to admit it to myself that much – even if it I was just infatuated with her character. I was completely sucked in.

When I pulled up at the hospital, I hopped out and raced inside. I just needed to see that she was okay. I didn't know where the feeling came from, or if I should have disregarded it. All I knew was that she was important to me and that I needed to make sure that she knew that.

Even if I couldn't let her know that.

I was going to ask the desk where she was, but then I saw Bella's mother. She was walking down the hall, and she had Bella's backpack in her arms. Pretending to have been there before, I turned and followed her fluidly. It worked, because security wasn't chasing me down when I got to her door, which was where her mom had left the backpack and left.

I walked in and found the blond doctor, her dad, seated by the bed and holding her hand. His brown eyes, so similar but different to hers, were teary and red. I was about to ask when he thought she was going to wake up, but my questions were answered by the fluttering of her closed eyelids.

"Mr. Masen? What are you doing here?" Her brow came together, as I was the first person she saw.

**Author's note: Hey dudes. I'm hoping to get this posted before the power goes back out. I am currently sitting in my basement as tornadoes are touching down in my town. I figured I'd update before I die and leave you hanging. It's short, but I know that fillers are better than a long wait, no?**

**REVIEW.**


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